South Shields Fake Festival a hit with music fans

David Allison

South Tyneside music fans have turned out in force to see top tribute acts at the latest Fake Festival.

More than 1,000 people descended on Bents Park in South Shields for the event, where acts paying homage to groups such as the Stone Roses and Kasabian performed.

The Total Stone Roses on stage at Fake Festival at the Bent Park, South Shields.

The weather has stayed dry for the gig, although the bands played under the cover of a marquee.

Bec Evans, local event organiser for the Fake Festival, told the Gazette: “This is the last festival for 2016 so we wanted to make sure we went out on a high and thankfully it’s been a really good day.

“We started off holding the festivals in 2012 we’ve expanded ever since then to meet the demand. There have already been festivals in Whickam, Tynemouth and Chester-le-Street this year and they’ve all gone well.

“We tend to pick locations where there is a night time economy where there are bars and restaurants close by and that tends to work.

Crowds enjoy the Fake Festival at the Bent Park, South Shields.

“There’s a big catchment area in the North East so you get people from all over coming to see the acts, have a drink and enjoy themselves.

“Of course we’ve got loads of people from South Tyneside here but there are plenty from the rest of the region too.

“We try and pick bands that cover groups who have a big fan base and appeal to a lot of people and the likes of the Stone Roses are huge at the minute after they released a new single for the first time in more than 20 years.

Taking to the stage on Saturday were The Total Stone Roses, Kazabian (Kasabian), Blondie tribute act Blondied, The Middens, Crying Lions, Doors Open and Outlander.

Crowds enjoy the Fake Festival at the Bent Park, South Shields.

“We’ve got space for 2,000 people and tickets have sold really well especially with the weather staying hot,” added Bec.

“It’s perfect for people having it over this weekend because the Bank Holiday Monday gives them a chance to recover!”

Bec also said that the organising team are already looking ahead to another festival in South Shields next year. “We don’t know what dates we’ll get from the council as to when we can use the park but we should know soon and we’ll go from there.

“But hopefully we can sort another festival for 2017 here as it’s clearly something people want to come to.”

Crowds enjoy the Fake Festival at the Bent Park, South Shields.

The Total Stone Roses on stage at Fake Festival at the Bent Park, South Shields.